Briton Alex Alley , who set off on a solo circumnavigation of the globe in late December in a 12.2-meter boat, continued his journey on December 31 after having to stop for repairs and crossed the equator early in the morning on January 19.
TheBriton's boat Pixel Flyer has been nicknamed «pixel» for the fact that Elley, to raise money for the voyage, has since2005, he has been selling «pixels»- 5cm squares on the hull of his boat and space on the website that sponsors have filled with their logos or personal photos.Ellay's dream is to break the record for the fastest round-the-world non-stop sailing time for boats up to 12.2 meters long. The previous record (137 days, 20 hours, 1 minute and 57 seconds) was set in 2013 by Chinese sailor Guo Chuan .
«So far, he's ahead of schedule. He has a nearly full moon, the sea is calm, and he is accompanied by flying fish. He is saluting King Neptune in gratitude for allowing him to enter the southern hemisphere», the coastal mates of Elley, with whom he is in contact, wrote.
Finding out how well the Briton is progressing towards his goal is not easy. Guo Chuan's start and finish line was in China,while Elleigh is navigating a line in the English Channelbetween Créac'h Lighthouse on the French island of Wessan and Lizard Lighthouse in Cornwall, England . Aside from the actual sailing in the Southern Ocean and a total length of 27,000 nautical miles, the yachtsmen's routes are otherwise, to put it mildly, different. Still, the Briton has attempted some calculations.
« Guo Chuan's record is 3,308 hours. This gives an average speed of 8.16 knots. Considering the Southern Ocean is 50% of the way and speeds are higher there, we can assume an average speed of 9.16 knots there and 7.16 knots for the rest of the route. By 2:30pm on January 15, I had covered 2,939 nautical miles in 360 hours. My average speed was just 8.16 knots»," Elley reasoned.
It turns out that theoretically Guo Chuan should have traveled 2,577 miles in the same time at an average speed of 7.16 knots - 362 miles less than Elleigh. Then, for now, the Briton has a day and a half advantage. It will be possible to know for sure what the situation is only after Elley will have finished his voyage.
For now the only thing that causes anxiety to the team is the breakage of the autohoist last week. The Briton has fitted a spare in its place and the boat is now fine, but now that Elley will be sailing in the Southern Ocean,he will no longer have a replacement in case of a new breakdown.
